My father never said I love you

– Martin (he/him)

As a result of growing up in a violent household, Martin craves positive relationships with men but has a hard time trusting them until he meets Tom, a chairman of Goldman Sachs. Tom takes Martin under his wing and sees something in him that he can’t yet see in himself.

#blacklivesmatter #blackstoriesmatter #defendblacklives

“My father never said “I love you,” so I annoy my children with lots of I love you’s. He hardly supported or attended my events, so I do my best to never miss any of my children’s events. He put strangers before his own family. I will always put my kids first.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

Seeing her this powerless brings out my compassion tenfold

– Shaniqua (she/her)

As a small child, Shaniqua’s mother became too ill to care for her, forcing her to move from NYC to Virginia to live with her tough-loving grandmother known as Ole Battle Ax. In her story, we learn how Shaniqua went from wishing her grandmother were dead to naming her second-born child after her.

#blacklivesmatter #blackstoriesmatter #defendblacklives

“I realize that the tables have turned, now her daughters are the ones with power and this is the payback. Even though I have been angry at her for a long time, seeing her this powerless brings out my compassion tenfold.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

She says, ‘Thank you for being a good mommy. I love you.’

– Rita (she/her)

Rita becomes pregnant at 15 and has 4 children by the time she’s 24. She never feels like a good mom until her youngest daughter is diagnosed with fatal cancer. It’s only then that Rita learns what she is truly capable of.

#blacklivesmatter #blackstoriesmatter #defendblacklives

“One day, she calls me over and asks for a hug. I go over and hold her. She says, ‘Thank you for being a good mommy. I love you.’ Then, she squeezes me tight and says, ‘I’m alright, I’m with grandma now.'”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

As a child, I needed a gun to protect myself.

– Tyrone (he/him)

At 14, Tyrone starts carrying a gun to protect himself. Today, as the Commissioner of Human Rights for Ulster County, he’s dedicated to protecting his community.

#blacklivesmatter #blackstoriesmatter #defendblacklives

“As a child, I needed a gun to protect myself. As a man, I dedicated my life to protecting my community.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

My name is both connection and severance.

– Kwame (he/him)

Kwame shares a story about his long and complicated relationship with his name through his journey from Brooklyn to New Jersey, and most recently, to the Hudson Valley.

#blacklivesmatter #blackstoriesmatter #defendblacklives

“My name is both connection and severance, marking me as part of something I can never truly know.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

Am I Black Enough?

– Troy (she/her)

Growing up in a white world, Troy Ellen is often criticized for not being black enough. By exploring identity through two different characters—first at 13 when she’s forced to play the role of Tituba, the Black slave in the school production of The Crucible, and at 16 when she chooses to play the role of Peaches in Four Women by Nina Simone—Troy Ellen accepts herself for being black enough just as she is. Watch her story and get involved by hosting a Black Stories Matter viewing party.

“Even though I’m dressing the part of a Black revolutionary, I will struggle with the whole ‘Am I black enough?’ question.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches this fall. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

My Covid-19 Message in a Bottle

Dear Friends,

Like everyone, all of us at TMI Project are doing our best to stay calm and make the best-informed decisions possible as the COVID-19 landscape changes daily. We are committed to the well-being of our local community and have decided to postpone our April 1st Podcast Launch Party and all other in-person programs until we are confident it is safe for all to attend. 

So this is my message in a bottle. During this time, TMI Project will remain dedicated to helping you tell your stories and stay connected even if we can’t be in the same room with each other. To that end, I’m excited to announce that we are hosting our first-ever digital mini TMI Project Storytelling workshop in lieu of the podcast launch party at 7pm on April 1st!  

We’re going to do what we do best – offer a mini TMI Project workshop with spontaneous writing and then daring ourselves to read it in community. Warts and all. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating, it’s cathartic. And for the first time, we’re going to do it virtually. 

So if you’re sick, a caretaker, or just bored from the drudgery of social distancing, join us! Space is limited. 


Listen to a special message I recorded for our TMI Project family.

If you haven’t yet, subscribe to The TMI Project Podcast wherever you get your podcasts to receive a notification on April 1st when our first series, Tragedy + Time = Comedy launches with eight binge-worthy episodes! If you can, listen to the premiere episode about the amazing Verna Gillis prior to the workshop. We promise it will provide much-needed laughter and inspiration. 

In the meantime, stay safe, wash your hands, try not to panic and leave some toilet paper on the shelves for your neighbors. And, if you’ve got something on your mind, something that’s weighing you down, join us for the online workshop and write about it! You won’t regret it. 

Stay safe and well. Sending much love to you all.


Eva Tenuto (she/her)
Co-Founder/Executive Director
TMI Project

P.S. If there’s an online offering you would like, let us know. We’d love to hear your ideas. Email info@tmiproject.org with the subject line “Virtual Programming Ideas.”

I have never felt at-home in my skin

– Beetle (they/them)

After the Charlottesville tragedy, Beetle suddenly becomes Unapologetically Black, or “UAB.” However, as time passes and they experience more and more hate, Beetle’s UAB slowly turns into UAO: Unapologetic Outrage.

“I have never felt right in or at-home in my skin. And, up until two years ago, the stupid and numb version of me would apologize for that. But then Charlottesville happened, and for the first time in my life, I became Unapologetically Black.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Watch: We will share a story from our Black Stories Matter archives every weekday in June. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to easily access this content.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches on July 16th. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

As an adult, I realize that Sojourner Truth has been watching over me for most of my life

– Dr. Williams-Myers

Dr. Williams-Myers always found it odd that Sojourner Truth’s story was never taught in school history. Especially considering that for his entire life she’s been watching over him, walking with him. Then, now, and tomorrow.

“It was amazing to me that Sojourner’s story was never taught in school history.  It’s just one more example of how the history of Africans in America has been taught as if history shaped the Africans instead of how it really is: Africans and their descendants have profoundly shaped American history.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Watch: We will share a story from our Black Stories Matter archives every weekday in June. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to easily access this content.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches on July 16th. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism

My mother never told me she was proud of me

– Cassandra (she/her)

In an attempt to discover her own sense of individuality and fight cultural norms, Cassandra rejects her mother’s ideals of beauty. After her passing, Cassandra realizes her mother was always just doing the best she could with what she had.

“When I’m in my teens, my mother tells me “pinch your nose for an hour a day” because “it’s too broad,” and “don’t stay long in the sun,” because “you’re dark enough already.”

Want More Black Stories Matter Content?
Stories have the power to increase visibility, raise awareness, change people’s hearts and minds, and inspire people to take meaningful action. We are making every effort to ensure all of our Black Stories Matter content is easily accessible, widely consumed, and is accompanied by tools to deepen the impact.

Watch: We will share a story from our Black Stories Matter archives every weekday in June. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to easily access this content.

Listen: The TMI Project Story Hour, Season Two: Black Stories Matter, launches on July 16th. Learn more and subscribe to our podcast HERE

Host: a Black Stories Matter viewing party and discussion from anywhere in the world. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Share: TMI Project’s mission with Black Stories Matter is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the Black experience in America – the full spectrum – the triumphs, humor, beauty, and resilience. Click HERE to submit your story to be featured on the TMI Project blog.

Learn: Resources for anti-racism activism